Do banks need to prepare for the robot revolution?

There is no denying the impact artificial intelligence (AI) is already having on the workplace and will continue to have in the coming years.

For banks – arguably more so than for many other kinds of businesses – the need to recognize the importance of concepts like AI, automation and machine learning is becoming increasingly clear.

But what can financial institutions do to allay any concerns in their human workforce and ensure they are gaining maximum benefit from these trends?

At a conference in Frankfurt, John Cryan, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, said: “We have to find new ways of employing people and maybe people need to find new ways of spending their time.

“In our banks we have people behaving like robots doing mechanical things; tomorrow we’re going to have robots behaving like people.”

In comments reported by the Financial Times, Mr Cryan pointed out that, for the human workforce, there is a big positive to be taken from this trend – workers will have opportunities to develop their skills and take on more interesting, nuanced work as routine tasks are automated.

Recent research from Capgemini’s Digital Transformation Institute has also highlighted some of the encouraging aspects of recent tech developments. More than four out of five companies implementing AI (83 percent) are thought to have created new jobs as a result, many at a senior level.

Furthermore, more than six out of ten organisations (63 percent) that had introduced AI at scale said no jobs had been eliminated as a result.

One of the companies taking part in the study was UK-based financial services provider Prudential, whose global head of AI, Michael Natusch, said the firm wanted to “use humans to the best of their capabilities”, allowing them to focus on areas where human intelligence can drive value.